a good shop

How would a beginner have a clue what a good shop is?

experience is the only way to filter the advice you get

experience is the only way to filter the advice you get

I totally agree with you on that point.

The point I’m trying to make is that all the advice the OP is going to get on here will not be a substitute for actually going and seeing and sitting/trying some bikes in the flesh, and hopefully a decent shop nearby will be able to help him out.

And hopefully talking to people in his local area will help point him in the direction of one.

One of the things that worries me most about forums like this is that there is are a lot of opinions, many well informed, many less so, and for exactly the reasons you’ve said, for a beginner this is often a minefield as online you have no way of knowing who is giving the good advice and who isn’t (without experience ;-)), look a this thread for example, it’s already turned into a wheelsize b1tchfest!

This is exactly the kind of situation where a good shop should be of some use, sadly I think you might be right in that a lot of shops are not as good and helpful as they should be, general standards certainly seems to have declined in the last 15-20 years or so, but there are some brilliant ones out there and although you wont get the breadth of opinion that you do online, hopefully you should get some useful advice if they have been in the trade any length of time.

general standards certainly seems to have declined in the last 15-20 years or so

Yeah I agree with that, but I do think there is a reason.

When I started biking, a lot of bikeshops were run by ex pro or semi-pro roadies from the 60’s and 70’s, then it was possible to set up a shop with a love of cycling and a few contacts. Now there is so much variety of technology and stock requirements that I think it needs a substantial cash outlay to open a bikeshop, it appears a hard business to be in, many go bust. It takes years to build a business based on goodwill and reputation, and I think that is near impossible to do unless you are already loaded and run a shop as a hobby.

I would love to own a bikeshop, but I think if I had to run it as a profitable business it would kill cycling for me, and may even kill me.

And hopefully talking to people in his local area will help point him in the direction of one.

As he was asking such a general question on a forum, I kind of assumed he had little local advice.

It’s easy to say ‘don’t bother with cycle scheme, buy this secondhand’ but that relies on having the cash in your hand. Not everyone has upwards of 500 notes lying around to chuck on a bike, with cyclescheme it comes out of your pay each month.

a good shop

I’d like to think that we count, but you never know 😉
Yes, we’ll be slightly biased to the products we sell but we can also give you a good idea as to what else you’ll need to get going.
Also, as mentioned previously, there are plenty of regular group rides going on in Delamere Forest pretty much every night. Ours is a Wednesday and caters for all including those starting out.

It sounds like I have a lot to learn other than jumping onto a bike and pedalling lol.

I disagree. Jump on a bike, and start pedalling. Simples.

You’ll learn everything else that you need to know in time.

Enjoy, and welcome to the ‘club’. 🙂

I got the impression the OP had already narrowed it down to 3 options, didn’t we just have to narrow it down to one for him?

I’d go for the Cube, I ride a 29er cube, and its a sorted bike. and will provide you with loads of fun.

OP: officialtob is barking up the right tree

* they’re all good bikes, it’s hard to buy a bad bike
* you won’t get it absolutely right first time, nobody does. This is a journey of a thousand miles, you are just taking the first step

don’t agonise over it, pick the one you fancy, go get some miles under your belt

(I’d buy the Whyte because I like Whytes, but I’m not you).

Thanks for alll the advice chaps, really appreciate it! Just to let you all know I ordered the Cube Acid today and will be picking it up tomorrow (the excited pants are on). A big thank you to Rick and all the guys down at Twelve50 bikes in Frodsham for all the help today. 😀

feaga2105 – Member

Thanks for alll the advice chaps, really appreciate it! Just to let you all know I ordered the Cube Acid today and will be picking it up tomorrow (the excited pants are on). A big thank you to Rick and all the guys down at Twelve50 bikes in Frodsham for all the help today.

Of course you’ll need to work out now what your second and third bikes will be.